The present invention relates generally to a passenger vehicle brake controller and more particularly to a passenger vehicle trailer brake controller.
The design of passenger vehicles is often driven by a variety of factors. Two prevalent features are often the need for increased utility and the need for increased safety. Consumer convenience also can play a significant role. One area in which all such design factors must be considered is often a passenger vehicle's ability to transport objects. Passenger vehicle transport capabilities is an important design aspect of modern vehicles. The ability to haul objects and equipment is often as important as the vehicle's ability to transport additional passengers. Solutions aimed at increasing a vehicle's hauling capabilities must not only be directed at improving the vehicle's utility but must also be directed towards improving a vehicle's safety and performance while accomplishing this task. One traditional approach towards improving a vehicle's transport capabilities has been through the addition of a trailer attached to the vehicle. Trailers allow for a wide range of items to be transported by a vehicle, often without impacting transport capabilities of the vehicle's passenger compartment.
When a trailer's size and transport weight capabilities remain small in relation to the towing vehicle, impact on the towing vehicle's performance and safety is minimized. When the size and weight capacity, however, are increased, it is known that the trailer can impact the performance of the towing vehicle. Many states, in fact, impose restrictions on trailer design based on towing capacity. One such restriction requires the use of an independent braking controller to actuate the trailer's brakes. This allows the trailer's brakes to provide independent braking power to facilitate stopping of the vehicle/trailer combination.
A wide variety of trailer brake controllers are well known in the prior art. These controllers are commonly sold through after-market channels independent of the passenger vehicle. These after-market trailer brake controllers must therefore be designed to accommodate a wide variety of towing vehicles and trailer assemblies. Thus, the specific braking characteristics of a given passenger vehicle, a given trailer, or a given passenger vehicle/trailer combination are often not designed into these after-market brake controllers. In addition, intercommunication between the vehicle braking system and the trailer braking system is often minimal. Due to the wide variety of passenger vehicles capable of towing trailers, the simplistic approaches towards trailer brake controlling are often undesirable. In addition, these prior art approaches often leave the determination of a suitable brake controller to the vehicle consumer or after-market technician rather than relying on the preferable knowledge of the vehicle designers to determine suitability. It would, therefore, be highly desirable to have a trailer brake controller integrated into the passenger vehicle prior to the vehicle's sale such that proper braking performance could be predetermined and advanced braking procedures could be implemented.
Commercial truck/rig designs have long realized the benefit of integrating trailer brake control with the semi-cab braking. The mere proportions and travel weight of commercial cab/trailers dictates that the trailers must play a significant role in braking. In addition, significant development has been achieved in the interaction between cab and trailer braking in these commercial embodiments. Yet, despite over two decades of popularity for large passenger vehicles such as SUV's, minivans, vans, and pickup trucks, the developments within the commercial sector have not always translated into approved passenger vehicle/trailer braking.
One significant difference between commercial and passenger vehicle braking systems is that commercial systems often utilize the trailer as the primary braking component of the vehicle. In passenger systems, however, the passenger vehicle itself usually remains the primary braking component. Despite this fact, it is still highly desirable to have an improved coordination between trailer and co-vehicle braking systems within the passenger vehicle design. It would further be highly desirable to utilize concepts developed for commercial trucking scenarios, and adopt and adjust them to better suit passenger vehicle towing scenarios.